


The Power of Our Bonds Will Persevere!

by WritingPaperGhost



Series: Waiting at the End of the Road is Happiness [2]
Category: Ultraman R/B (TV), ウルトラシリーズ | Ultra Series
Genre: Dimension Travel, Slightly - Freeform, Swearing, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28124817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingPaperGhost/pseuds/WritingPaperGhost
Summary: It's been a few months since Asahi returned to Ayaka, and she had fallen back into some groove or another. But then, through a mostly unexpected series of events, she finds herself and her brothers back in the other world she'd been in before. There's a lot that the three of them have to deal with there,  but they're not working alone. They have each other and Asahi's friends in this world, ready to do whatever they can to protect the planet from the foes that are coming their way.
Series: Waiting at the End of the Road is Happiness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017570
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. What a Strange Sensation Inside of Me, a Feeling of Entrapment Holding Me

**Author's Note:**

> I have started the "movie"! I sort of know what I'm doing with this.

Asahi had been back in Ayaka for what was probably close to six months at this point. And it was boring. A part of that, at least she was pretty sure it had something to do with it, was simply going from having so many Kaiju attacks to having only a few. Another part was probably how whenever a monster appeared, her brothers usually dealt with it on their own. It wasn’t like they didn’t let her help… It was just they didn’t let her help all that much. Probably because they were worried she’d get hurt. Which was ridiculous! She could take care of herself, especially if her brothers were fighting with her!

Probably the oddest part of it all was how it seemed like the monster attacks were starting to happen more and more. There was two months between her return and the next monster, then a month between that. Then two weeks, and now an only a week. While it seemed to have stayed at a week for now, there was no garuntee that it would stay that way. Sometimes, there were two a week, sometimes more. But it was worrisome, even if Katsumi and Isami were trying not to show it.

Their parents weren’t trying to hide their concern nearly as much. It was probably their mom who actually voiced the observation of the increased Kaiju attacks, at least while Asahi was around. Their parents were always a certain degree of worried about them, but it was far cry from what Asahi had witnessed when it was just Katsumi and Isami, when they went to fight Reugocyte.

As for Asahi herself…

She didn’t really know why, but she’d been feeling restless lately. Going out to practice – with her bow, with her sword, with her Kaijus, anything – seemed to help a bit. But it never really made the feeling go away, at least not entirely. She’d help out with small things, those really didn’t make her feel any better. It wasn’t so much like a feeling that something was going to happen and more just a feeling of wanting – something! She wasn’t sure what that something was, though, which made the whole thing a lot harder.

Asahi wasn’t sure what to make of all of it. She wasn’t sure what she ought to do to deal with the feeling, and she wasn’t sure what to do, if anything, about all the monster attacks. Not that Katsumi and Isami really let her help with the monsters much, anyway. But all the monsters… Something just didn’t seem right, even if she didn’t know what.

Right now, though, she was helping her dad set up a display in the shop, as Katsumi and Isami were looking into some weird energy that Isami and their mom had found. Jasyuline was standing on one of the tables, giggling as they tried to stand as still as they could, most likely preparing to startle the next unassuming soul to walk near them. Asahi placed a stack of shirts on one of the tables, next to Jasyuline and gave them a brief pat on the head, eliciting another giggle.

“Jasyu,” She said, “You can’t just scare everyone who comes in,” It was teasing and not horribly serious, everyone who Jasyuline startles just assume they’re some kind of Halloween prop or something that they keep out.

Over hidden in the nook that she made her nest in, Litra lets out a quiet cry, which Asahi had learned was a laugh, this one at least. Though she may have been used to her Kaijus existence, her family took a bit to get used to them. At this point, they were all used to her Kaijus and her Kaijus were all used to their home. Litra had long since set up a nest in a little nook and Nova often sat himself on a chair or table. Regina, on the other hand, was happy with every _but_ her brothers. She often hissed and growled at them, if they got too close, she’d try to bite them.

Regina always reminded Asahi a lot of Saki.

She was humming a song when there was the ground shook, causing Jasyuline to fall over and Litra to fly out of her nest. With a small growl, Regina appeared on the table beside her, pretty much glaring out the window at the front of the shop. Asahi stopped and frowned, walking over to the window to look out.

She was expecting to see a monster, certainly. She expected to soon be seeing her brothers there to deal with the monster, as they always did. She expected the three to fight and then she expected her brothers to win and save the day, like always. She expected nothing unusual. She expected it to be like any other day.

There was no way she could have known how wrong those expectations were.

What Asahi saw when she looked out the window was not even close to what she expected. Standing in the center of the city, now with her brothers opposite, was Kenshin. Who was decidedly not dead.

“Oh shit.” With all the urgency of _oh shit that guy you were like seventy-five percent sure was dead is not actually dead_ , she runs out the door. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do. Should she trust her brothers to be better suited to deal with him? They were stronger than her after all, but she certainly wasn’t sure what Kenshin was capable of. Maybe she should transform and join them either way, so that way they could become Gruebe. That was probably the better idea.

With her decision made, she pulls out her Gyro and the Grigio Crystal. She didn’t want to take any chances when Kenshin was involved. “Color me with your power, Grigio!”

She lands a bit behind her brother, prompting Rosso to glance back. “Grigio, why are you here?” Blu takes a brief glance back as Rosso speaks.

Grigio huffs, “I’m here to help you,”

Before she can say more – which she truly wanted to – Kenshin cut her off with a laugh, “Well now, the siblings are all together…” He wears an unmoving mask, but it’s clear in his tone that whatever expression he might have, it would be a sickening one. “That’s… Well, that’s rather dangerous, isn’t it?”

They turn their attention back to him. Blu calls to Kenshin, “Listen, you might have hidden for a while, but that doesn’t matter. We’ll beat you all the same.”

“Isanii,” Grigio tries to speak up, hoping to catch even one of her brothers’ attention. They may have encounter Kenshin before, but certainly they had to have realized that he wouldn’t be defeated so easily. It seemed almost clear that Kenshin didn’t want them to be able to become Grube, and there had to be a reason for that. He wanted revenge, but why would he need them separated for that?

The conclusion was obvious, at least to her. Kenshin knew that he’d be defeated if they became Grube, so he would do everything in his power to prevent that. Now if only she could get her brothers to listen. Alas, the two wasted no time in becoming Rube, causing her to huff again. Fine, she’d just help from here, even if they weren’t willing to let her help with Grube. Or at least not yet, she was certain they’d realize the necessity soon enough.

As the two dealt with Kenshin up close, Grigio jumped back a bit, summoning her bow. Arrows appeared in her hand as she took aim, careful to try to avoid her brothers – not that they were making it easy. One moment they were in one spot the next they’d moved somewhere else. Still, if she got close to them, they’d all have to fight around each other, which would be no easier than what they were currently doing. So for now, she’d just grit her teeth, so to speak, and deal with it.

After adjusting her aim several times, she finally was able to launch her arrows, certain that they’d avoid hitting Rube. Though there were a few that flew rather close, none so much as scraped the duo, landing to hit their target. Following after, Rube punches Kenshin, succeeded swiftly by a kick, knocking him to stumble back.

With an annoyed growl, Kenshin stood straight, glaring at the three of them. “Huh…” He wondered aloud, “Only the two of you? I was expecting… Something a little more, I supposed.” Grigio suppresses a shiver when he seems to look past Rube, to her.

“We have more than enough strength to beat you,” Rube spoke, sounding of both Rosso and Blu. They rush forward, closing the space between them and Kenshin with a punch. Grigio moves to the side, activating the power of Mebius’ Crystal, causing the arrow she held to alight with fire.

Rube dodges out of the way of Kenshin’s attack, feathers floating in the air around him. He fires a beam at them and they backflip out of the way, giving Grigio plenty of room to fire. Her arrow flies through the air, splitting into many, all burning with the same bright flames. When they make contact with Kenshin – despite his attempts to swat them away – they cause little explosions, the flames still burning.

“Really though,” Kenshin intones, “This whole thing is rather pathetic. Like this, the three of you don’t stand a chance.”

The feathers that floated and fluttered around him seemed to suddenly freeze, suspended in mid-air. The three watched for a moment, trying to discern what he was doing. Not that they had to wait long to see – with a leisurely wave of his hand, the feathers flew quickly towards Rube. Grigio rushes closer, an attack charging in her hands. The feathers seemed to be cutting and slashing at him, clearly causing pain.

Once she’s close enough, Grigio releases the energy she’d been charging, “Grigio Cure Burst!” The burst of energy destroyed the feathers, healing whatever damage they might have caused to Rube. It also caused Kenshin to stumble back with a grunt.

Rube looks to Grigio, “Asahi,” They began.

Asahi really didn’t need to be told what they needed to do. She was certain that in order to beat Kenshin, they’d need to become Grube. She begins to move closer, before she sees something appear behind her brothers.

There isn’t a chance to say something before something appears in front of Rube and their pushed through. She realizes it was some kind of portal the thing behind them was Kenshin. She isn’t able to so much as let out a cry of surprise before Kenshin moves and pushes her through the portal.

Going through the portal is an odd sort of feeling, one that’d she’d felt before though. Months – hell, closer to a year ago – when she’d fallen through that portal and ended up in Kurokita. In the back of her mind, she can’t help but wonder where this portal might lead her this time.

Would it be another Earth, like the first time? Would it be another planet, like when they first encountered Tregear? There were so many possibilities… Really, it could even send her back to Kurokita and KPaRS’ Earth. Though she didn’t think that she’d end up in the same place as her brothers – that just wouldn’t make sense, since Kenshin was presumably trying to prevent them for becoming Grube.

After an indeterminate amount of time, she stumbles out of the portal. She looks around, taking a moment to gain her bearings. She thinks she might recognize the city, but they all look pretty similar so she’s not sure. Regardless, she decides she shouldn’t stay in Ultra form too long. Who knows what type of attention she could attract like that, especially if she was just standing around the city.

Thus, in a manner not unlike when she arrived in Kurokita, she became human once more, finding an alley to land into. Then, she walked out, minding her own business, though there were many questions whirling around her head. Where was she? Where were her brothers? Was Kenshin still in Ayaka, allowed to do whatever he wanted unchecked?

A cheerful tune plays from her phone as it vibrated, catching her off guard. Who was calling her? She didn’t think that cell phones could make calls across dimensions, so that would imply that it was someone who was in this world with her. There were only so many possibilities she could think of. At first, she thought it was Katsumi or Isami, but she had specific ringtones for them, so that didn’t make sense.

But who else could it be? She pulls her phone out and stares at the screen for just a moment. “Tomomi”. What were the odds that she was back in Kurokita? With a small shake of her head, she wasted no more time to answer it.

“To-Tomomi?” Asahi hopes she sounds a little less unsteady than she thinks she does, though she doubts it.

“Asahi, so that really was you…” From the phone, she hears Tomomi’s voice respond. It’s… well it’s only been six months, but it’s nice to hear even one of her friends again.

She gives a small little laugh, “Yeah…” Then she decides to breach the most obvious elephant in the room, “So… As it turns out… Kenshin isn’t quite as dead as we thought.”

“Ah,” Came Tomomi’s response, “That’s bad.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”


	2. But This One Thing, Just One Thing, a Moment No One Can Deny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding herself in a familiar city, Asahi meets up with KPaRS, learns what's been going on since she left, and searches for her brothers, who also seemed to have arrived here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that Zett ending was something, huh? I liked it, it was fun to watch.

Asahi walked the familiar halls of KPaRS’ base, like she had many times before. Really, she was barely paying attention to where she was going, her mind more focused on other things. Like her brothers. Were they okay? Where were they? Or maybe Kenshin. While it wasn’t exactly surprising he was still alive, there were still some unanswered questions there. Like where was he now? What was his plan?

Which was a part of the reason why she was so startled when she entered the main room. The other part was Chikako rushing over to her and engulfing her in a large hug, “Asahi!” Asahi would admit she had jumped, but really, it wasn’t like she was expecting Chikako’s outburst like that.

Awkwardly, Asahi hugged back slightly, once her startlement wore off. “Ah, hey, Chikako.” It wasn’t that she wasn’t excited to see her friends again. It was simply that she hadn’t been expecting the surprise hug.

Chikako finally released her when she hears Matsuoka speak up, “Wonderful, now that we’re all here…” Off to the side, Asahi could hear what she assumed was the keys of Hisoka’s keyboard clicking. “We can begin going over what has occurred recently.”

“What,” Asahi frowned, “Has there been more than just me showing up?”

She’s finally able to take a good look around the room. Matsuoka is at his desk, same with Jun, Rin, and Fuyuko and theirs. Chikako still stood off to Asahi’s side, hands on her hip, and over by the windows is Katsuhito, sitting in a chair. To the side, she could see Hisoka and the other members of KPaRS who work so diligently on their various computers and what-not – it’s not like Asahi’s particularly well versed in those things – and leaning to look over Hisoka’s shoulder, was Tomomi. Most surprisingly, she noted that Tomomi wore the KPaRS uniform, or at least the jacket.

Filing that away, she decided it would probably be best to ask about that at a later time. Still, Tomomi gives her a small smile and nod as he looked up, then spoke, “Yeah, you could say that.”

On the screen in front of all of them, several images appeared. One was what appeared to be either an Alien or a very humanoid monster next to what was certainly a monster, said monster had an almost dragon-like appearance. A lizard-like appearance with large wings – it was hard to tell exactly how large, as they were somewhat folded in the picture – with a long tail that was covered in what appeared to be spikes. The oddest part of the monster’s appearance were the many moss, flowers, and trees that adorned its head and back. The humanoid creature standing beside it was much different in appearance, more resembling a blocky sort a statue – maybe like a golem or something? – vines twisting all over and around its body.

Another picture was of herself, clearly taken not that long ago when she arrived in Kurokita once more. There’s a few more pictures here and there of various monsters, some she recognized and some she didn’t – she thinks she sees a Litra in one and a Gubila in another. The one that caught her attention the most was on the bottom left. There was a timestamp, showing it was taken just before she arrived. Two giant figures, humanoid enough, looking awfully confused. One was red, one was blue.

She moves forward quicker than she realized and points to the photo, “Those are my brothers!”

Chikako rushes over herself, “Those,” She too, points at the photo, “Are your brothers.”

Asahi nods in response, prompting Chikako to repeat herself, “Cat and shark are your brothers?”

Though she can’t help but giggle at the ridiculous, though unsurprising, names that Chikako came up, Asahi nods again. “Yeah, that’s Katsumi and Isami,” She said, “Or rather Ultraman Rosso and Ultraman Blu!”

Rin rests their hand against their cheek, “You mean they got brought here too?”

She hadn’t really considered it a possibility, given it seemed like a bit of a counterproductive idea, for what she understood of Kenshin’s goals, at least. Still, she didn’t think that picture was fake, nor did she think it was another Alien impersonating both of them. “I… I guess so,” She says, “I mean, I know that got pushed through one of Kenshin’s portals before I did, and that certainly _look_ like my brothers and I don’t know of any Ultras that look like them.”

“Great,” Fuyuko sighed, sounding irritated, “Does that mean we’ll also have to deal with Kenshin again?”

Asahi shrugged, “I’m not really sure?” She fiddled with the end of her sleeve, “I guess we’ll find out.”

Jun groaned, “As if we don’t have enough to deal with as it is.”

“I assume other stuff has been happening as well?”

This time, Hisoka was the one to offer an explanation, “There has been an odd uptick in Kaiju’s getting disturbed from their habitat, turning oddly aggressive,”

“We’ve thankfully been able to handle it,” Katsuhito adds, “Though barely with how aggressive some of them have been.”

“The biggest issue is we have little idea what’s causing them,” Hisoka continued, brining up the photo of the strange pair of monsters, “Then there’s these two, who we can find out little about. We don’t know if they’re Kaijus, Aliens, or a combination.”

“Yikes…” Asahi mutters, “Sounds like you guys have had your hands full.”

Jun stretches, “Like Katsuhito said, we’ve been able to handle it… but yeah.”

Matsuoka nods, then says, “I believe our first order of duty, though, is to find Asahi’s brothers.” He looks over to Tomomi, “Tomomi, would you go with her?”

At some point, Tomomi had brought his notepad out, scribbling something down. He looks up at Matsuoka, “Huh?” Then he looks at Asahi and smiles, “Oh, yeah, let’s go.”

\---

While they had a pretty good idea of where Katsumi and Isami landed, by the time Asahi and Tomomi would be able to get there, it was pretty likely that the two would have left to somewhere else. But it was, at the very least, a place to start. They would probably have to go that way at some point. As they made their way there, Asahi decided it would be best to try to call her brothers.

She tried Isami first, but it didn’t so much as ring. Either it had been broken or, more likely, he left it back home. He did that sometimes. But that was fine, the two were probably together, so she’d just try to call Katsumi. This time, it rang once, then twice, then the phone was answered.

“Asahi?” It was definitely Katsumi’s voice on the other end. That was good, that meant her and Tomomi could find them faster.

“Katsunii!” She cheered. Off to her side, Tomomi smiled. “I’m glad you answered. We’re trying to find you and Isanii.”

“We?” Katsumi echoed, “Who’s we?”

Asahi was quick to explain, realizing that her brothers would have no way of knowing that she’d been to this world before, “My friends – KpaRS – and I,” She spares a glance at Tomomi, then – she still wanted to ask him why he was working for KPaRS now, “This is the Earth that I ended up on before.”

“Really?” She didn’t blame Katsumi for the surprise. Really, she was pretty surprised to realize where she was again too. “But why?”

She shrugged, even though he couldn’t see it, “Beats me,” Then she shook her head, remembering why she called them in the first place, “Anyway, where are you guys?”

“Uh… One moment,” Quietly, she can hear Katsumi and Isami talking about what markers they could see. “Okay, let’s see… So, there’s a park around here and the street sign we’re standing near says it twelfth street…”

Brightly, she nods, “Right, okay!” She repeats the information, one to ensure that she got it right, two so that Tomomi could hear it too, “We’ll be there as soon as we can!”

The call ends and she looked over to Tomomi, smiling, “Alright then, now we know where to go.”

He nods, “Yeah, better than just looking around the general area we thought they might be in and hoping for the best,” He pauses for a moment, thinking, then adds, “Or waiting for a monster or something to show up. At least now we have a pretty good idea of where they are.”

With a laugh, Asahi agrees as they adjust their course of travel towards where Katsumi described. “Speaking of monsters,” She said, “You work for KPaRS now? That’s a bit of a career change.” The monsters part was about the only thing they had in common, and even then, that was pushing it. He went from a journalist, who had something of a focus on Kaijus, to working for KPaRS. She wasn’t actually sure what he did there, but it was still a bit strange. There wasn’t anything she could think of that prompted it, not that her lack of knowledge there meant that nothing did, she didn’t exactly know when he started working there, after all.

“I was wondering when you’d ask about that,” He noted, adjusting his glasses, “Not too long before you left, KPaRS Kaiju expert quit. The job was turning out to be too stressful for him and, apparently, was causing health issues.”

Too stressful? Asahi was a bit bewildered at that, “Why would you take a job with a group that deals with Kaiju if you had to worry about it being stressful?”

Tomomi laughed, “That’s what I said when Kaoru told me! But in all seriousness, monsters weren’t too much of a problem before Kenshin came along.” Asahi supposed he had a point. KPaRS wasn’t at all prepared for Kaijus in the way that Kenshin brought them. “Anyway, after you left, they were still looking for someone – no surprise, really – then Kaoru comes to me one day and offers the job to me. Apparently, my articles had enough research put into them that it made me count as ‘capable’.”

While that explanation made enough sense… She still couldn’t help but wonder, “Why’d you take the job, though? I mean, I always thought that you really liked writing about monsters.”

His shoulders hunched up, as though he was trying to make himself smaller, which was hard given he was taller than Asahi. “Well, I mean I did – I do – and I still write articles occasionally… It’s just – well…” His shoulders unhunched and he sighed, looking away a bit, “We won’t always have an Ultra around, right? You were here because you had no choice, at first, and then you chose to stay around until we thought Kenshin was dealt with.”

Asahi nodded, his description of the circumstances of her time on this Earth previously more or less accurate. Still, she didn’t understand where he was going with this explanation, at least not yet. She let him continue, “And now we’ve got more things showing up and you and your brothers are here… But you’re not always going to be here.” He looked at her and she could see a determined look in his eyes, “I want to do whatever I can to help KPaRS when monsters show up. When there’s no Ultra here and we have to deal with it on our own. That’s why I agreed to the job.”

It was more clear, now, what he was trying to say. Asahi supposed she understood what he meant, now that his train of thought had continued. She could understand wanting to be able to defend yourself and what you care about on your own, without having to rely on other people’s help. She herself had worked hard to better be able to fight on her own, simply because she knew Katsumi and Isami wouldn’t always be there to help her. Not to mention, even when you were working together, the stronger each person is, the more competence they have at reaching their goal, the stronger the group is as a whole.

To no one’s surprise, least of all her own, Asahi was smiling, a big sort of smile that came when you were entirely happy. Today had been a bit of a trip and she’d been struggling to chase off the unrest she’d been feeling for months, but somehow, even though she really shouldn’t, she was feeling better. There were a lot of problems to deal with, but she was happy, because she got to see her friends again. Because of all the things that _could_ have happened after falling through one of Kenshin’s portals, this was arguably one of, if not the best outcomes she could think of.

“Well,” Tomomi laughed, “I’m glad that you’re still as happy as ever.”

“Huh? Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

Instead of answering her question, Tomomi looked around, “Ah, that should be twelfth street over there, and there’s the park,” He points at the various areas, a park, a signpost, “Your brother’s should be around here somewhere.”

Asahi nods, looking around. People, people, people… There were a fair amount of people around, but it seemed like none of them were her brothers. No familiar red jacket of Katsumi’s or blue, grey, and black hoodie of Isami’s. “Ugh, I don’t see them…” Tomomi wouldn’t exactly know what to look for, so she just had to hope she’d see them. Then she sees something, “Wait! Katsumi!”

She waves her arm around the air, trying to catch the attention of the man in red a little way down. A person moves and she’d able to see someone wearing a hoodie just like Isami’s too. She quickly rushes over, making sure not to run into anyone.

“Asahi!” Isami yelped, slightly startled by how quickly she’d made it over to them, “Well, there you are.”

Then, Asahi remembers that she’d more or less just left Tomomi, which she felt a bit bad about. It wasn’t like she was trying to, she just kinda… forgot he was with her, for a moment. Still, he doesn’t take too long to catch up, though he chooses to walk the distance as oppose to her rush. “Geez, Asahi,” He laughed, “You sure do move fast.”

She spins around to face him, “Ah! Sorry Tomomi!” Then she looks at her brothers, then back at Tomomi. “Oh, uh, Katsumi, Isami, this is Tomomi, Tomomi, Katsumi and Isami.” Tomomi waves slightly, while her brothers take a moment to regard him.

“Nice to meet you,” Katsumi says, ever so slightly wary.

With a small nod, Tomomi smiles and responds in turn, “The same to you.” Then he says, “Now that we’ve found your brothers, we should probably get back. We have… a lot to deal with, still.”

“A lot to deal with?” Isami echoes, “What, did Kenshin show up here too?” The question was sarcastic.

Still, Asahi shrugged, slightly, “Maybe? We’re not sure on that.” While she certainly hoped he hadn’t also came, there was a very strong possibility. He had, after all, claimed he wanted revenge on Rosso, Blu, and Grigio – or at least Rosso and Blu, she couldn’t exactly remember if she was just supposed to be a casualty in his plan or what. “But there’s still other stuff going on that we know for sure. So since we’re here, we should help!”

“Yeah, we probably should,” Katsumi nodded, “Alright, then, let’s go.”

The trip back to KPaRS base was uneventful, thankfully. The more things were uneventful, the better, it at least gave them time to try to figure out what exactly was going on. There was nothing particularly special about the introductions between Katsumi and Isami and KPaRS. Admittedly, Chikako wasn’t present – Katsuhito said that there was something that she had wanted to work on – but that might have been for the best, given how zealous she could be at times. She was, apparently, a bit off putting to some people.

They did their best to explain what they knew about what had been happening recently, not that there was much that could be said. “We think that odd pair has something to do with it,” Jun frowned, referring to the maybe-Alien and monster pair, “But at the moment, we really don’t have a way of knowing.”

Everyone stared at the picture for a bit, as though it might provide the answers they’re all looking for. It didn’t, but no one really had any better ideas. Rin sighed, “I guess,” They began, “We’ll just have to wait until something happens. Like, they show up again or something.” Fuyuko nods in agreement.

In the back of her mind, Asahi notes that Hisoka’s typing got quite a bit faster. Usually, that wasn’t a good thing. It was no real surprise when he spoke up, “Well, you won’t be waiting much longer.” In the place of the photo was now a video, showing the pair appearing in an area that was thankfully outside of the city. “I guess you three can go and try to ask them.”

Katsumi and Isami wasted no time running out of the building, Asahi following not that far behind.


	3. In Order to Protect the Promise We Made That Day and Our Future:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s monsters to fight and investigating to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit long. And we're about halfway, now.

It seemed as though the pair of monsters, the statue and the dragon, were waiting for something. They hadn’t been there long, sure, but they hadn’t done anything. The statue monster stood still, almost like it wasn’t alive at all. The dragon monster was less, still, eyes closed, simply wrapped around the legs of the statue monster. For a moment, Asahi wondered if they were even still alive.

Her brothers arrived first, she was following just behind, but the moment they appeared, the dragon’s eyes opening. It watched them for a moment, examining them, then uncurled itself and stretched, with what might have been a small yawn. It had a sort of staring contest with Rosso and Blu, as though it might be sizing them up, determining whether they were threats or not.

Then, after a moment, the statue monster stirs, dark eyes lighting up. It doesn’t move, but even the change in its eyes are enough to show that it was paying some attention to what was occurring now. It’s not entirely clear what it is, exactly, or what it might do, but if anything, that only put the three Ultras more on guard.

Finally, after another few moments of tense silence, a voice rang out, the statues eyes flashing with every sound, “A surprise…” It said, the dragon monster’s tail began to swing back and forth, “Three unexpected guests… You are no monsters, as well.”

“Hey!” Blu calls out, “Are you two the ones causing the monsters to go crazy or whatever?”

The statue tilts its head, “Perhaps we are…” Its hand at its side shifted, raising to rest on what might be the handle of a weapon. It’s hard to tell what it is, though. The statue continues to speak, “Though our actions should be of no concern to you.”

Rosso is the one to talk next, “And why not?” He asked, placing a hand on his hip, “I mean, if you guys are trying to harm the people on this planet, then why shouldn’t we try to stop you.”

“Harm the people of this planet?” The statue echoed, its voice holding a hint of either confusion or amusement, still unmoving. The dragon beside it seemed to be preparing itself, though for what was unclear, though it was most likely a fight. The statue began to speak more, “And what of us? We could very well be of this planet as well… You’d have no way of knowing.”

While the statue certainly had a point, to some extent, there was no denying that it and the dragon that was with it seemed to pose a threat to everyone else. “It doesn’t matter if you’re from this planet or not,” Grigio called out, moving closer to her brothers, who were acting as a barrier between her and the monsters, “If you’re going to harm others on this planet then we’ll stop you.”

With what might have been a chuckle, the statue countered, “And what makes that your duty? You most certainly are not of this planet.” It seemed about ready to pull its weapon, going so far to begin to do so, before stopping, returning the weapon to where it belonged, and turning its attention to the dragon. The dragon looked up, meeting eyes with the statue, and smiled what was certainly a toothy smile. The statue added, “Yes… I believe you have little say in what occurs here. The actions of those of this planet are none of your concern and it would do you best to leave now. Drabestia?”

At what must have been its name, the dragon, Drabestia, turned its attention to Rosso, Blu, and Grigio and shifted its position. The statue slowly moved a few steps away, giving the dragon room to unfurl its wings, which had vines and foliage wrapped around them.

“I think,” Grigio began, “We’re going to have to fight them.”

Blu nodded, “Probably,” The two moved into a fighting stance in front of her, while she moved back a bit, summoning her bow.

Drabestia roared, then with strong flaps of its wings, took off into the sky. Rosso and Blue wasted no time in following, though Grigio hesitated a bit. She wasn’t quite so good at fighting while flying – it was mostly the lack of any sort of solid ground for her to use to keep herself… orientated – and it made it hard to keep track of what was going on, because it could be occurring anywhere around you. She was half tempted just to let her brothers deal with it – they were, after all, better at fighting in the sky than she was – but at the same time, with this statue guy still on the ground and this overall just _bad feeling_ she had, she really didn’t want to do that.

Choice made, Grigio jumps into the sky, gripping her bow ever so slightly tighter. In the small amount of time that she’d stayed on her ground, her brothers had already begun to fight Drabestia. She found them just in time to see Blu counter the dragon’s flame breath with a jet of water. Taking a deep breath, she aimed her bow, preparing an arrow in her hand. Just aim at the dragon and fire, it should be easy.

Unfortunately for her, by the time she’d created the arrow, the dragon had spun itself around, using its tail to knock Rosso and Blu away from it. Then, wrapping its wings in slightly, it changed from simply staying in one place to flying away, closer to her. That… wasn’t good. Bows get a bit less effective the closer your target gets, but she was so close to firing.

The arrow still flew out of her hands, the bow launching it towards Drabestia. It landed on the front shoulder of one of the legs, but seemed to do little. As a matter of fact, Drabestia didn’t even seem to notice that it had just been shot by an arrow. It just continued flying toward her.

Shit. See, this is the sort of situation that tended to slip her up while flying. In theory, she knows all she has to do is move out of the way, but for some reason, it seems all the harder when she doesn’t have some sort of grounding. Still, she does her best to move, barely dodging Drabestia’s open jaw – filled with sharp teeth – and claws – equally as sharp as the teeth.

Though Drabestia flew past her, it was quick to make adjustments to its flight path, coming right back up towards Grigio. At this point, though, Rosso and Blu had wasted no time in joining her, pushing her behind them. There’s a twinge of annoyance at how her brothers did that, but she chose to ignore it, for now. There were more important things to worry about.

Blu flies forward, punching the dragon in its side. In retaliation, the monster turns itself and claws at him, managing to get a few slashes in before Rosso kicks him away. The two continued to fight the monster while Grigio took a moment to collect herself. Flight or not, now was not the time to get flustered, she had to stay focused. She attempts to shoot another arrow, but Drabestia and her brothers are moving around too much and she didn’t want to risk shooting Rosso or Blu.

With a groan, she abandoned her bow, instead choosing to summon her sword. It really wasn’t her preferred method, but it would have to do. She thought for a moment, while she had the time, about summoning one of her Kaijus. Most couldn’t fly, but she had Bemstar and Litra, which both could. They could prove to be helpful… But her brothers weren’t used to fighting with them, she was worried that might cause some confusion. She shook her head, deciding that for now, at least, it was best she didn’t, as much as she might have wanted to.

She dodges out of the way of some errant flames from Drabestia and returned her attention to the fight. Rosso and Blu both kicked Drabestia, causing the dragon to get pushed into some clouds. There was a pause, everyone waiting for the beast to emerge. Nothing. No roar, no wing flaps.

Nothing.

Blu scratched the top of his head, “Did we beat it?”

Somehow, Grigio didn’t really buy that. She looked around, realizing that the bank of clouds Drabestia had been knocked into was a lot bigger than she initially thought. Really, it could be anywhere in there.

“I don’t think so…” Rosso responded, also looking around for the monster, “It must be hiding in the clouds.”

“Wouldn’t we notice it?”

Grigio sees something, movement, in the clouds. It’s off to the side, just out of her brothers’ view. But she was farther away, she had a bigger view, she could see what they couldn’t. Springing into motion, she called to her brothers and thrusted her sword out, hoping she correctly figured out where the monster would be. She can feel that she made contact with something, and that something was moving, not really stopped by her attack.

Drabestia roars, veering off course and ends up flying right past her brothers. It heads towards the ground, for one reason or another. The three of them follow, Rosso and Blu arrive first since they were closer, though their Color Timers began to flash when they neared the ground. They took attacks from the monster, so they unsurprisingly had less time left than Grigio. Drabestia is now at the feet of the statue, an annoyed look on its face. One wing is folded in, but the other is held out, like the way one might hold out a particularly offending item.

It’s clear, now, why it had to land. There’s a rather large gash in the wing, which clearly made flight hard, if not impossible. Grigio must have made it with her sword when she stabbed at Drabestia.

The statue took a moment to examine the damage done to Drabestia, “They damaged your wing?” It inquired, “Hmm… I see.”

Blu glanced at Rosso and the two nod. Quickly, they send out a beam attack at Drabestia, most likely hoping to finish it now that it had been forced to the ground. In a movement far too fast for what the statue appeared to be, it drew its weapon and destroyed the attacks in one movement. Now, in the statue’s hand, it was clear that it wielded a staff of sorts, though it too was covered in moss.

“It is clear to me what must occur now,” The statue mused, though its tone still seemed to hold no emotion, “It is time to do what we did when we first awoke on this planet.”

With what might have been a grand sweep of its hands, were the movement not so stiff, the statue declared, “The inhabitants of this Earth shall fight to decide who shall live. And this time,” There seemed to be a pointed sort of look, though it was unclear who it was aimed at, “We shall not let a ‘compromise’ come to pass.”

There’s some sort of flash, it’s not clear what exactly happened, and the two are gone. “What?” Blu startled, “Where’d they go?”

But Grigio couldn’t help but echo the statue’s words, “ _A compromise_?” Whatever could that mean? And what did it mean when it said that the inhabitants would have to fight to decide who would live? And what was that about that happening when they first woke up?

If Grigio recalled correctly, Kaijus had always been on Earth, but around a few hundred years ago, they woke up, resulting in the way Earth was now. That was what was known as “The Awakening”. But there was something else, wasn’t there? Something she’d read about in one of Tomomi’s books and meant to ask him about but never did. But just what was it? She couldn’t precisely recall, it had been months ago, after all.

Rosso sighed, seemingly unaware of Grigio’s ponderings, “Let’s just… Go back to that base, yeah?” He stretched slightly, “We’ll figure out what to do from there.” He has the right idea, really, there’s not much to be gained from sticking around, especially with Rosso and Blu’s timers flashing.

Blu and Grigio nod and the three siblings return to their human selves.

\---

“So, do we even know what that guy was talking about?” Isami inquired, watching idly as footage of the conversation with the statue and the fight with Drabestia played on screen. “That statue guy, I mean,” He clarified, though it was likely everyone knew what he meant.

Katsumi watched the screen for a moment, before saying, “They said something about doing what they did when they first woke up?” He tilted his head, “That they’d make everyone on Earth fight each other to decide who’d live and that they wouldn’t allow for a ‘compromise’ like before.”

“We heard,” Fuyuko frowned, crossing her arms, “As a matter of fact, it seems like nearly everyone in the country did, if not the entire world.”

“It does kinda pertain to them,” Rin notes with a tug of their scarf and a neutral tone, “Although I’m more curious about the implication this has all happened before.”

It’s then Tomomi speaks up, walking over with a book. Asahi thinks she recognizes it as one of the books in his apartment, but she’d not entirely sure. “It’s not so much an implication as a fact,” He says, opening the book to a page with a scrap of paper between the pages. “It was an event known as ‘The Terrible Fights’. A couple decades after The Awakening, when Kaijus awoke on this planet, there were many reported instances of Kaijus suddenly attacking humans and human settlements, as well as humans suddenly trying to attack the monsters.”

“They didn’t always do that here?” Inquired Isami, a certain light of curiosity in his eyes.

Tomomi shook his head, “No, when they first appeared, they were peaceful, much like they are now. At that time, though, no one had ever really heard of a Kaiju attack. So the suddenness of them all starting to occur caused quite the commotion, on top of the attacks themselves.” He flips the page of the books, “While it’s rather recent history, a lot of the details aren’t entirely clear. No one ever learned why the attacks started happening. But we do know how things came to be like they are today, to some extent, at least. Those involved in the matter didn’t really give a lot of specifics.”

“What happened?” Asahi prompted.

“A group of humans came together and somehow managed to speak with the monsters to calm them down.” He explained, adjusting his glasses with his free hand, “Like I said, we don’t really know the details and those humans should be long gone…”

“I feel like there’s going to be a but in there.” Jun noted in a sour tone, arms crossed.

After seemingly debating with himself for a moment, Tomomi tentatively spoke, “Well, there’s something of a rumor… Or something like that. Anyway, some people think that one of those humans wasn’t actually human, that they were an Alien and that’s how they were able to communicate with the monster.” Quickly, he added, “Although, that’s just a rumor and there really isn’t any evidence to support it.”

There’s silence, “So what you’re getting at,” Asahi began, “Is that these monsters might be the cause of The Terrible Fights before and are trying to start them again?”

“Yeah,” Tomomi nods, closing the book, “Or something like that.”

It would certainly make sense, at least given what the statue had said. Not that knowing that did them a lot of good, all it gave them was an idea of what the statue was planning. Regardless, they needed a bit more to go off of if they were going to try to do anything other than to wait for the statue and Drabestia to show up again.

Fuyuko stands, “Well, now all we have to do is figure out what to do next,” She seems contemplative, drumming her fingers on her desk, “We don’t have a lot to work with, which makes it hard to determine a course of action.”

Though he may have been quiet the entire time Tomomi was relaying information, Matsuoka chose now to speak up, “While there isn’t much we can do,” He said, nodding slightly, “I believe there are a few things we’ll need to do. One, we’ll need to look into the connection between those two monsters and The Terrible Fights. Two, we’ll need to look into the possibility that one of those humans wasn’t actually and may still be alive. Three, we mustn’t forget what brought Asahi and her brothers here, even if they are able to help us with these two Kaijus.”

“In that regard,” Isami begins, “There isn’t much we can do until Kenshin shows himself, we have very little idea what his plan is.”

Asahi pipes in, “Yeah, all we really know is that he wants revenge on at least Rosso and Blu, if not Grigio as well.”

That statement sits there for a moment, before Tomomi sighs, “We’ll need to do something about those two monsters before they can actually cause damage. Directly or indirectly,” He glances out the window, “But if monsters start rampaging, we’re not going to be able to stop them all at once, even with the help of Ultras.”

“So then,” Rin said, their expression a bit more serious, “We can’t waste time in trying to stop them.”

Tomomi nods and Matsuoka begins to speak again, “I think we’ve figured out enough of a course of action, then. Tomomi, you’ll look into the two monsters’ involvement in the past,” He looked at Katsumi, Isami, and Asahi, “I’d like you three to look into this possible Alien, since you’re not known as a member of KPaRS, other Aliens may be more willing to talk to you. Fuyuko, keep an eye on the going ons in the city, we need to be able to know if humans begin to become agitated. Hisoka will be keeping an eye on known Kaiju, Rin and Jun will stay here in case there’s a Kaiju attack. Chikako and Katsuhito, along with the rest of their team, will be on standby for any needed emergency repairs.”

Everyone nods and sets about to do their job. Tomomi left the room to do his research and Fuyuko also left, though for different reasons. Asahi smiles and calls for her brothers to follow as she begins to leave the room. The best place to look for Aliens is among Aliens. There’s a few places in the city that are essentially Alien neighborhoods, those would probably be the best place to start. She relays such to her brothers, glad to be able to do something with them to help.

They were out and about the city, now, a bit outside of the first of the neighborhoods. If they were lucky, they might find some lead or another, though it was pretty unlikely on the first try. “Well, it’s great you have an idea where to start looking, Asahi,” Isami began, tentatively.

“You didn’t get too hurt during that fight, right?” Katsumi finished, “If you did it’s fine to stay behind…”

Asahi stops in her tracks, turning to look at her brothers, her lips arching ever so slightly into just the smallest form of a frown. “ _I’m_ fine.” She said, “You two are the ones who were actually getting hit.”

It hadn’t avoided her notice how quickly they’re Color Timers had began to flash when fighting Drabestia, at least compared to hers. Nor had she missed how they seemed to be a bit sore – and she imagined were it not for their sleeves and shirts, she’d be able to see plenty of bruises. She could actually see a few on Isami, as his shirt had a bit lower neck than Katsumi’s button up. She understood their concern, but as far as she could tell, they should be more concerned about each other, or her about them.

“We’re fine, a little sore but we’ve had worse.” Katsumi responded, though she knew he was fudging the truth. Yes, they had been through worse, but they were certainly more than “a little sore”. They were trying to make themselves seem better off than they were.

With just a _slightly_ irritated sigh, Asahi fought to keep her ever so small frown from growing any bigger. “Sure, a little sore. But you don’t need to worry about me too much, I’ve fought monsters on my own before, or with my Kaijus, I can take a few hits, if I have to.” She didn’t miss how both Katsumi’s and Isami’s lips formed into a frown. “I’m an Ultra too, after all. You don’t always have to worry about me.”

“Well, I mean, yeah, but…” Isami had a bit of a habit of stumbling his words a little when he was getting a bit worked up. It usually happened when he and Katsumi got into a disagreement about how to do something. That made it odd to hear directed at Asahi. “You’re our younger sister, of course we’re going to worry.”

Deep breathes, Asahi had to remind herself, they’re allowed to worry. Though their worry wasn’t really what she had a problem with. What often happened was that they wouldn’t let her help much, because they were so worried about her getting hurt. But she was just as capable as them, just in different ways. Not to mention she had her Kaijus. She just had to figure out how to explain that to them, which was always harder than knowing what she the point she wanted to get across was.

“That’s fine,” She said, steeling herself, “But please, let me help. With these two monsters, with Kenshin. I’ve protected this Earth before so let me do it again. I know you worry but that doesn’t mean you can try to keep me from helping.”

Katsumi tilted his head, “Asahi, fights are dangerous and you don’t have a lot of skills that are good for actual fights.” Asahi’s expression most certainly held a not so small frown, now. “I know you’ve protected this planet before, but maybe you should just leave it to us, this time.”

“Yet you let me help so we can become Grube?” She asked, clenching her fists. “You let me help when the two of you are still doing most of the work.”

Katsumi reached a hand out as Isami tried to begin, “That’s not-“

With a groan, Asahi cut him off, “That’s not how it is? Sure it’s not.” She turned around, knowing this wasn’t a conversation she was going to be able to continue. It seemed like her brothers weren’t moving on the matter. “How about we stop wasting time? You two want me to stay safe? You can go and ask around.”

There’s silence for a moment, she thinks she can hear Isami begin to speak again, only for Katsumi to whisper something to him. They whisper back and forth for a bit, before she hears their footsteps going away from her. At least some work would be gotten done.

Asahi plopped down on a bench and leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

“Are you, uh… Are you alright?” A voice asks, sounding like it belongs to a child. Opening her eyes, Asahi is greeted with a young, but concerned face. It belonged to a girl, probably no older than twelve – Asahi was still bad at guessing children’s ages – with brown hair held in pigtails, glasses over her dark brown eyes. She wore a button up shirt with a little bow around her neck and a red hoodie, with a pattern on the hood – the same pattern seemed to be present on her skirt as well. “You, uh, well, I couldn’t help but notice, that you, uh, had a bit of an argument there.”

The girl sat next to her on the bench, peering at her. The girl examined her, waiting patiently for her to respond. Asahi took a moment to think. She didn’t know this girl, but she felt as though she needed _someone_ to talk to right now. It wasn’t like she hadn’t spoke to people she didn’t know when things were bugging her before. A stranger showing concern wasn’t necessarily trustworthy, but not knowing them didn’t make them untrustworthy, even if it was hard to tell.

After that moment of thought, Asahi sighed, “My brothers and I had a bit of an argument, that’s all.”

Beside her, the girl frowned, “I see… I don’t know much about siblings, I don’t have any of my own… But I have some friends who are siblings… They argue sometimes too…” The frown deepens, “I’m sorry. I’m trying to be helpful, but I’m afraid emotions like this aren’t exactly my strong suit. I’m more of a science kind of girl, rather than feelings.”

“Oh! Don’t worry about it!” Asahi waved her hands, “You don’t have to worry about me. Arguments are normal and my problems aren’t a big deal for you.”

The girl takes a moment to think about Asahi’s words. She looks around, as if in thought, “I see… Oh, um… You can call me Starry,” She said, looking over again, “And I have to ask, what brings you around here? This isn’t exactly a place that humans tend to be. Unless you’re not human…?”

It takes Asahi a moment to process Starry’s words. Frankly, she hadn’t really thought about anyone questioning why she was here, really, she just figured everyone would either keep to themselves or assume she was an Alien. With a name like Starry, she could assume that this girl was an Alien herself – it would certainly explain _her_ presence here. But Asahi still had to figure out what exactly to tell Starry. Or maybe she could just be honest, or something.

“My brothers and I, we’re looking into some rumors about stuff that happened at the end of The Terrible Fights,” The truth it is, it seemed. “So we thought this would be a good place to, well, ask around.”

Starry is contemplative, for a moment, tilting her head as she hummed in thought. “I see,” She muttered, then her eyes brightened, ever so slightly, as a smile formed on her face, “I’ve also been doing a bit of research into The Terrible Fights. Perhaps I can help you?”

That was… a surprise. “Oh, well, uh, I don’t know…” Words stumbled out of Asahi’s mouth at the unexpected offer. “I, uh, I suppose? We’re trying to figure out how exactly the humans and monsters were able to reach a peace.”

“Well, while I don’t know that, I think I can point you in the direction of someone who might,” With cheer, Starry supplied her information, “You see, I happen to know of the existence of an Alien who lives in a town not too far from here. He lived through The Terrible Fights, from what I’ve heard. Maybe he can help you?”

Asahi contemplated Starry’s words, it was curious that she knew this and Asahi wondered how. Still, she found herself replying, “It might,” Starry beams, seeming inordinately happy at providing such a small amount of information. Asahi continues, “I guess we’d have to look into it.”

“Happy to help!” Starry chirps, then pulls a cellphone out of her pocket. The screen lights up and she frowns, “Ah, sorry, I have to go. My friends will worry if I don’t get back soon.”

Standing up, she runs off with little else said, leaving Asahi to watch her leave. Asahi can’t help but wonder how accurate the information she’d been given was. It came from a child, after all, though that has never really mattered before. She figured she wait and see if her brothers found anything, then she could relay the information to them.

With a sigh, she tilts her head back again. Now she just had to wait, hoping that they’d be able to find a way to deal with everything. Then there was Kenshin – who knows what he’ll try to do. If they’re lucky, it’ll wait until these two monsters were dealt with.


End file.
